Yesterday while I went to Ranganathan Street area in T.Nagar (Chennai) for visiting our LIFCO Showroom there, I saw few CD stores. I went to one of them "Srinivasa Music Collection" in Ramanathan Street (near Rameswaram Road end). I presumed it is one of those shops selling English movies dubbed in Tamil and loads of MP3 CDs (Both of which they did have), but I was surprised to find a decent collection of Carnatic, Devotional and Kids CD & DVDs made in Chennai. I bought few K.Veermani Audio CDs, two Kids DVD and a DVD from Geethanjali on Temples of India (Tamilnadu).

One of the Kids DVD I bought was "Good Habits" which is an animated video explaining to young kids on how to keep their body parts healthy (Eye, Nose, Ears individually), Table Manners, Toilet Cleanliness, behaving with friends, neighbours and the like. It was made by a local company Magicbox who are based in Usman Road, T.Nagar, Chennai. At Rs.125/- I was not sure whether to buy or not - I was doubtful on the quality of the production. Now in the morning today I played it for my son and it turned out to be well made and worth the money.

Like any other Indian I was devastated at what happened in Mumbai on 26th Nov 2008. Watching Television over the last 4 days it was a mixed feeling of Anger, Scare, Sorry & Disappointment. I pray for the departed souls to rest in peace and for almighty to give strength to the families that lost their loved ones and for the injured for speedy recovery. 

Since lot has been reported about the incident around the world, I was not sure whether I too should be writing about this. Then I decided that every Indian has to raise his/her voice against this atrocity, so here is what I feel on this:

• Indian Political establishment, the government & the intelligence machinery have failed spectacularly once more. There is no point in blaming the present Central or State Government for this, this is a failure of government at all levels over the last two decades - ever since the fall of "Cold War" and the raise of "Global Terrorism"
• Over the decades, time and again Indian Government and Indian Civil Service have shown by their non-action that they don't value the loss of a life especially of a ordinary Citizen. For them only the lives of Political Party Chiefs, Ministers and their immediate family members lives have any value
• I just can't come to terms on how easy it was for the Terrorists to come into India without being stopped and how easy it was for them to smuggle huge arms and ammunitions. Does India have any coastal guards and navy worth mentioning?
• I am glad that there was no negotiation or surrender were made. Unlike previous incidents were our government was ready to bend backwards rightaway in the Indian Airlines - Khandagar incident in 1999 or in the Rubaiya (daughter of then India's Home Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed) incident in 1989. In the Mumbai Incident now, it appears that the security forces were given a free hand to do their job, which they have done
• Though I felt the operation by security forces was very slow, we should commend them for handling it skillfully with no civilian lives lost due to their firing, for not using disproportionate gun power and for capturing one terrorist alive
• I am at loss on why our security forces don't seem to be taking advantage of technology. For two days they kept saying they don't know the number of terrorists and where they are inside the buildings. Why didn't they use any Infra-Red Scanners, Motion Detectors, Satellite Sensors and the other modern fighting gadgets we see the American Armed Forces using skillfully in Iraq?. Does Indian Armed Forces have any of these or just like everything else in Indian Government was the budgets allocated for these swindled by Corruption?
• Without these modern gadgets how does Indian Armed Forces dream about fighting even a conventional battle - with the changing world order wars are fought nowadays in Cities and not in deserts. Are these gadgets too expensive for India to buy, I don't think so especially when treasury can spent US$14 Billion (INR 70,000 Crores) on the famous farm waivers and for issuing government bonds for subsidizing "Fuel" - both of which yielded Political capital
• Though it is purely symbolic I still welcome the resignation of Central Home Minister Mr.Shivraj Patel
• Though I don't agree with American & George Bush policies on their International Policies and Iraq War. Still due credit should be given to them for protecting their country (USA) in the last 8 years. After the devastating 9/11 there have been no major Terror Attacks with in the United States. In a sense they skillfully moved the battlefield of the Global war on Terror from being within USA borders to outside USA
• As an Indian, I feel ashamed that we still don't have any Crisis Management Infrastructure in India as Mr.Ratan Tata rightfully pointed out. We don't even have the basics like a US "911" helpline in India. I am not sure how many people who got stuck inside the hotels knew who to call for help - I certainly don't know
• India needs all the help it can get especially from US, Israel and other countries with huge expertise on fighting terror. Now is not the time to trumpet how great Indian Scientist are, or on how great our technology is, or being self-reliant, etc. But I am afraid our civil service will ensure this opportunity is missed to work with the world to our advantage by their outdated bureaucracy. A fine example of this happened today when the FBI was detained for hours in Mumbai Airport 

One of my friends sent me a nice email summarizing on what he feels will happen from here which is worth reproducing here on his own words: "I really don't want any more cries of "Indian resilience", peace and harmony. Indian resilience is nothing but casual indifference if not directly affected. We'll go back to watching our stupid soaps and reality shows once the real-life "reality show" of the terror attacks are over. A few discussions over dinner and drinks and we're done. We're mostly peaceful and harmonious people - but the ones massacring us aren't. So these kind of displays don't really do anything. What we need now is a strong government with a strong anti-terror law. One that can have the guts to take out terrorists wherever and whoever they are...Till then, I will remain cynical and angry"

Having said all this I am still an optimist at heart and that is the reason I have a photograph of the NSG team on the start of this post. Finally, I salute the brave men and women from Mumbai Police, National Security Guards & Army who lost their lives in the battle.

Bookmarks:

1. Video - NDTV's Randeep Nandl explaining what an alleged terror suspect may be telling Indian authorities about the planning of the Mumbai attacks
2. Attack in India - Summary by NewsWeek, Summary by New York Times
3. We're all Bombayites today by Vir Sanghvi
4. BigB on the anger of the ordinary citizen and on complete loss in faith in the system and in the governance

பொதுவாக எனக்கு கதைப் புத்தகங்கள் நாவல்கள் படிக்கும் பழக்கமில்லை. அவ்வப்போழுது ஆனந்த விகடன், குமுதம் போன்றப் பத்திரிகைகளில் தொடர்களாக வந்தால் படித்ததுண்டு. மறைந்த எழுத்தாளர் சுஜாதாவை நான் சில முறை அவரின் ஆரம்பக்கால தமிழ் இணையத்தள முயற்சிகளுக்காக சந்தித்திருந்தாலும், அவரின் நூல்களைப் தொடர்களாக தான் படித்துள்ளேன். அப்படி தான் அவரின் 'என் இனிய இயந்திரா' ஆனந்தவிகடன் பத்திரிகையில் தொடர்கதையாக வெளிவந்தபோது அவ்வப்போது படித்ததாக நினைவு. அதன் தொடர்ச்சியான 'மீண்டும் ஜீனோ'வைப் இதுவரைப் படித்ததில்லை.

சமீபத்தில் நண்பர் ஒருவர் புண்ணியத்தால் “மீண்டும் ஜீனோ”வை மின் புத்தகமாகப் படிக்கும் வாய்ப்புக் கிடைத்தது. அமெரிக்காவின் சான் ஃபிரான்சிஸ்கோவில் விமானத்தில் ஏறியச் சிறிது நேரத்தில் படிக்க அரம்பித்து ஹாங்க்-காங்க் சென்றடையும் நீண்டப் பயணம் முடிவதற்குள் நேரம் போவதே தெரியாமால் படித்து முடித்தேன்.  அவ்வளவு சுவாரஸ்யம். விஞ்ஞான சமுக-அறிவியல் அடிப்படையில் நடக்க முடியாத கதை, ஆனாலும் அருமையான கற்பனை, வளமான எளிமையான எழுத்து நடை.

இந்த வாரம் திங்கட்கிழமை அன்று கலைஞர் டிவியில் காலை எட்டு மணிக்கு எனதுப் பேட்டி ஒளிபரப்பானது. போன வெள்ளியன்று விஜிபி கடற்கரை தங்கும் விடுதியில் திரு. ரமேஷ் பிரபா அவர்கள் கேள்விக் கேட்க நான் பதிலளித்தேன். கீழேயுள்ள இந்த ஒளிப்பதிவைப் பார்த்துவிட்டு உங்கள் கருத்தைச் சொல்லவும். திரு. ரமேஷ் பிரபா அவர்களுக்கு என்னை அறிமுகம் செய்த நண்பர் திரு.ஆண்டோ பீட்டர் அவர்களுக்கு என் நன்றி.

இந்தப் பேட்டியில் நான் என்னப் பேசினேன் என்று நான் இங்கே எழுதுவதை விட நண்பர் மறைமலை இலக்குவனார் எனக்கு அனுப்பிள்ள ஒரு மின்-அஞ்சலில் மிக அழகாக  சொல்லியுள்ளார். ஆகவே அதன் சுருக்கத்தை இங்கே கொடுத்துள்ளேன்.

“இணையத்தில் தமிழ் பெற்றுள்ள ஏற்றம், எழுத்துருவைச் சீரமைப்பதில் ஏற்பட்ட பல்வேறு கருத்துக்குழுக்கள், இன்று யூனிக்கோடு எவ்வகையில் உதவுகிறது என்பது குறித்த விவரம்,விசைப்பலகை என்றால் என்ன, விசைப்பலகைகள் மாறுபட்டு அமைந்தது ஏன், ஆங்கிலத்தில் விசைப்பலகையின் ஒருசீர்மை, தமிழில் அத்தகைய ஒருசீர்மைக்கு யூனிக்கோடு எங்ஙனம் உதவுகிறது என்பது பற்றிய ஆய்வு, இன்றைய இளைஞர்கள் கணினித்துறையில் எதிர்கொள்ளும் சிக்கல்கள், இணையத்தில் நிகழும் பல்வேறு மோசடிகள், அவற்றைச் சமாளிக்கும் விதம், டிஜிட்டல் கையொப்பம் என்றால் என்ன, பணவரவு செலவில் அதன் பயன்பாடு யாது, இணைய வானொலி, இணையத் தொலைக்காட்சி ஆகியவை பெற்றுள்ள தனிச்சிறப்புகள், எதிர்காலத்தில் இணையம் பெறப்போகும் வளர்ச்சிவலைப்பூக்களில் தமிழ் பெற்றுள்ள சிறப்பிடம் என்று அடுக்கிக் கொண்டே போனீர்கள்.

கணிப்பொறியாளர்கள் கைகட்டிச்சேவகம் செய்யவேண்டியதில்லை என்பதற்குத் தாங்களும் தங்களுக்கு முன்னரும் பின்னரும் வந்த தொழில் முனைவோர்கள் எடுத்துக்காட்டாக விளங்குவதைச் சுட்டிக்காட்டினீர்கள். ஒபாமாவின் வருகையால் நமக்கு எவ்வித அச்சமும் இல்லை என்பதைச்சுட்டி அமெரிக்காவைப் பூச்சாண்டி காட்டிவருவோரின் அழிம்புக்கு முற்றுப்புள்ளி வைத்தீர்கள்.தமிழக அரசு இதுவரை அளித்துவந்த ஒத்துழைப்புக்கு உத்தமத்தின் சார்பில் நன்றி தெரிவித்தீர்கள். இந்த அல்லது அடுத்த ஆண்டில் இணையமாநாடு நடத்தவேண்டிய சூழலை எடுத்துரைக்கத்தவறவில்லை.

உத்தமம் பற்றிய முறையான அறிமுகத்தை அளித்தபின்னர் தான் உங்கள் உரையைத் தொடங்கினீர்கள்.

எடுப்பான தோற்றம், எழுச்சி வாய்ந்த குரல், சிறப்பான கருத்துகள் என்னும் மூன்றும் ஒருங்கிணைந்து உங்கள் நேர்காணலைச் சுவையுடன் விளங்கச் செய்தது.நன்றி.வாழ்க”

One of the advantages of Direct To Home (Satellite / DTH ) TV is the promise of uninterrupted service and being free from cable cuts, etc. Unfortunately DTH too doesn't guarantee reception at all times as I realized today. In my house I have a Tata Sky DTH service in one room and Sun Direct DTH in another room.

It has been raining Cats & Dogs for the last two days in Chennai City due to Cyclone Nisha. There has been very little mobility within the city as most of the areas have been inundated. For me, I managed to return home in the evening now in my car with several feet of water in many places in T.Nagar, West Mambalam & Kodambakkam. After coming home I switched on TV wanting to catch what's happening with the horrific Mumbai Terror attacks in Taj & Trident Hotels. Due to heavy rains and the thick clouds in the sky above Chennai, both Tata Sky and Sun Direct had reception problems - both at various times kept breaking due to no signal. Though both services kept breaking, Sun Direct seems to be the most affected - even when it got signal, the pictures kept getting corrupted and the set-top box rebooting often. Though on normal days there was little problem with either of the services.

Early this month I travelled to Hong Kong while returning from USA. When I converted my money to Hong Kong Dollars to spend locally, I noticed they had a difference. Unlike currency notes of other countries say India, US or UK which are issued by Central Banks of those countries, the Hong Kong currency notes seems to be issued by authorized private banks like Standard Chartered, Bank of China, HSBC and others. All these are legal tenders in Hong Kong.

Today Prof.A.G. Ramakrishnan from IISc, Bangalore posted an announcement in INFITT discussion group announcing openings for BE Graduates for Research Positions at Mile Lab, IISc, Bangalore. This caught my eye as the project described was exciting one involving software applications for visually challenged.  I am giving a link in this post to the announcement for the benefit of graduates inclined towards research who will find this position interesting.

MILE Laboratory at Indian Institute of Science is actively involved in developing an automated book reader for the visually challenged. This research involves image mosaicing, page layout analysis, script recognition, speech synthesis and natural language processing. You can read the announcement from the IISc page here or in PDF format here

Like everyone else I get unsolicited unsolicited calls on my mobile phone. What is more irritating is when you are already a customer with the bank that is calling - they don't even check whether someone is their customer or not, instead they randomly call numbers. To communicate our displeasure with this, if we decide to switch banks, it is not so easy to do. And almost all private banks and insurance companies in India seems to be doing this, so you will not be able to find a company that doesn't. I bank mostly with Public Sector banks but for some convenience like Web Banking, Credit Cards and ATM I bank with a private bank. As consumers we need a remedy to this problem.

About a year or so back, TRAI introduced the National Do Not Call Registry (NDNC Registry). Telemarketers are needed by law to check with the NDNC database before making a call or face a penalty. You can register in NDNC by sending a SMS with text "START DND" to 1909 or register in your Mobile Service Provider's website (for me it will be Vodafone). Apart from TRAI's NDNC Registry, RBI recommended about 3 years for all Banks under it to have an individual DNC registry with them, you can register in each of them by going to their respective websites. I have registered myself in all of these sites, after registering the number of calls I get have certainly come down. If you still get calls you can complain to the callers that they are violating law by calling a DNC number.

Last week on a single day I got two marketing calls from ICICI Bank and one call from ABN Amro. Irritated I was looking for a remedy, I found a page in ICICI website to complain if you keep getting calls even after registering. I emailed to the id donotcall at icicibank.com that was in the page quoting the time, my mobile number and the phone numbers from which I got the call. I added in the email that if I continued to get calls I will seek remedy by lodging a complaint to RBI Ombudsman and TRAI consumer cell. I was not hopeful of any reply, but I was pleasantly surprised to get a reply within 2 days from ICICI stating that they have taken note of my complaint, apologized and assured that I will not get any further calls. I was certainly impressed by this service from ICICI and I hope other banks will follow this good practice.